Despite tepid results, Edison scores yet another school contract

More than a hundred people, including many teachers, attended the School Board meeting Thursday, June 21, in which the board decided to renew a $7.6 million contract with EdisonLearning Inc. The teachers wore T-shirts that read “CCSD + EdisonLearning = A winning partnership.”

More than a decade of lackluster student performance couldn't dissuade the Clark County School District from renewing a $7.6 million contract with EdisonLearning Inc. on Thursday.

Founded in 1992, Edison is a pricey for-profit education management company that currently operates seven schools in Las Vegas. The New York-based company's contract with six of those schools was set to expire June 30.

Swayed by passionate supporters and a petition with 2,000 parent signatures, the School Board approved a two-year contract in a 5-to-1 vote.

School Board member Carolyn Edwards — the sole dissenting voice — said she struggled to understand why the district would continue its costly and controversial partnership with Edison despite its tainted history and record in Las Vegas.

"Frankly, it's alarming," Edwards said of Edison's record. "This is $3.8 million a year of taxpayer money that hasn't shown a significant return on investment."

Edison came to town in 2001 promising to boost achievement among minority students from low-income families. Eleven years and three contract renewals later, the district has forked over more than $30 million with little student achievement.

The past decade also saw a a fiscal error that cost Clark County taxpayers $1.6 million, late philanthropy payments and lagging test scores that forced out the Edison program at West Prep Middle School.

Nationally, Edison has been criticized for privatizing the classroom and implementing a cookie-cutter approach to education. In some school districts, Edison's failure to deliver on its promise of higher student achievement has invited lawsuits.

"Eleven years is long time to support something that's barely shown improvement," Edwards said. "I believe in school choice and I don't have a problem with the private sector, but I haven't heard enough tonight to show me why we should continue this partnership."

Even as it faced multimillion-dollar budget cuts, the School District has forked over millions of dollars of state-allocated, per-pupil funding to stamp the Edison brand on Cahlan, Crestwood, Elizondo, Lincoln, Lynch, Park and Ronnow elementary schools. About 5,200 students are enrolled at Edison schools.

Under the new contract next year, the School District will spend between $9,203 and $10,763 per student at each of these Edison schools.

Gabriela Pace, center, and her fellow kindergartners have daydreaming time at Elizondo Elementary School in North Las Vegas on Sept. 29, 2011. Elizondo became an EdisonLearning-run campus in July 2011 as part of the district's efforts to improve the struggling school.

Although that's higher than the district's average per-pupil cost of $8,355, Edison students are cheaper to educate than those attending the district's magnet and Prime Six schools, historically black schools located in West Las Vegas.

In exchange for this funding, Edison-operated schools were provided professional training, resources and curricula for teachers. Teachers are still considered School District employees, however, and Edison schools still have to meet state and national standards.

The program is seemingly popular with Edison teachers and parents, according to several surveys conducted by the School District and Edison last year. More than a hundred people — mainly teachers — packed the School Board meeting wearing blue T-shirts that read "CCSD + EdisonLearning = A winning partnership."

Teachers said they liked Edison's collaborative teaching method, which set aside 40 minutes every day to prepare lesson plans and review student data with colleagues. They also found Edison's professional training to be helpful with instruction, and the four parent-teacher conferences a year effective in getting parents engaged with their children.

"I think the Edison model and design is a good one that we can learn from," Clark County Schools Superintendent Dwight Jones said. "I think it's starting to pay off."

Jones is a former operational vice president for Edison Schools, where he supervised 11 schools in Kansas, Missouri, and Maryland, according to his School District bio.

Parents said they felt the schools communicated well with families and were adamant Edison's curricula and instruction were effective. Almost all of the survey respondents said they wanted to stay at an Edison-run school and 90 percent were content with their child's academic success.

When these surveys were released in March, several School Board members said they were skeptical of another contract renewal with Edison, pointing to mixed test results over the past decade.

Yet, after several school visits, most School Board members had changed their minds about the Edison schools.

"In the last couple of years, I've seen Edison change," School Board President Linda Young said, adding that she wasn't sold on the program at first. "I'm asking my fellow trustees to support this."

Jones said the new contract is stronger than previous ones, with more stringent benchmarks and guidelines.

Edison spokesman and chief operating officer Thom Jackson said he is confident Edison would be able to have 100 percent of its students achieve grade level proficiency in math and reading by the end of the contract in 2014.

"We're excited about the board's decision to continue this partnership," Jackson said. "We won't give up on making a difference with these students."

Despite the supporting votes, approving School Board members said they wanted to see better results, advocating for a mid-year check-in.

"The return on investment must be better than in the past," School Board member Erin Cranor warned.

The question looms, however, Edwards said: How long does Edison plan to be in the School District?

Most Edison programs can turn around a low-performing school in three years, said Edison's Jackson.

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"I think the Edison model and design is a good one that we can learn from," Clark County Schools Superintendent Dwight Jones said. "I think it's starting to pay off."

"More than a decade of lackluster student performance," and this is the pandered response we get from Dwight Jones? He beats up on and demonizes union teachers and then bends over for the "for-profit" corporate businesses? THIS is why our schools are having issues.

Are you KIDDING ME? Thom Jackson of Edison gets paid to LIE for profits.I think Edison OWES Clark County a refund on the money they've been paid over the last decade. They should be sued for fraud and false advertising. It's a lawsuit CCSD would win.

Sadly, I don't see NPRI bringing any "transparency" to this issue. (Oh yah, they're pushing for MORE of this type of corporate welfare.)

This article failed to mention that prior to coming to CCSD our superintendent Dwight Jones worked as the Vice President of Edison Schools. So no wonder he pushes for a contract for his cronies. He could even still have shares in the company as there is no financial disclosure requirement for a superintendent as we have for elected officials.

The author of this article really owed this disclosure to the readers especially as it is so easily located from Mr. Jones own bio on the CCSD website. This tough question was skipped regarding what influence being a former VP of the company had on negotiations.

Given the lackluster performance of Edison Schools and knowledge of the contract our school board should not have approved Dwight Jones. Nor should he have any influence over this contract.

We must remember in November. Nearly every school board office incumbent has an opponent so vote them all out. It can't get any worse than it is now!

but i thought the private sector was always a zillion times better at everything than the government. all of my illusions have been shattered!bravo to mrs. edwards for not simply going along with the crowd. it seems the teachers' t-shirts should have read "ccsd+edisonlearning=barely noticeable gains". why not just take the good things that have been learned from edison and do away with the contract? it's one less stack of paperwork that needs to be managed (read: paid for).

Private sector is much better than the public sector because they can be held accountable and lose thier deal unlike the public sector whom makes several mistakes, wastes money and is not held accountable.

It doesn't sound like there's any accountability for Edison Schools if their performance continually lags and their contracts are continually renewed.

This is the model Nevada conservatives have been pushing for years. Public school teachers, administrators and unions are under constant attack in an effort to weaken public institutions, expand privatization and shift public school revenue to for-profit business models like Edison's.

How is it the school board can somehow advocate per pupil spending at a level 25% more than the average CCSD kid yet be satisfied with those schools failing to even make AYP, let alone make any significant INCREASE in student achievement?

This Edison Schools relationship with CCSD is fleecing the taxpayer and funneling money away from the school district and into the pockets of out of state business interests. This is totally unacceptable. After more than a decade we have to throw the bums out.

The potential for Dwight Jones to be benefiting financially from the Edison contract is deeply troubling. I hope that the state department of education begins an investigation into this matter. Republicans in congress have initiated ethics investigations against Shelly Berkeley for the same type of accusation. I know it is too much to ask from our ideologically hypnotized state leadership, but this accusation merits further investigation.